Travis Head prefers batting on seam-friendly pitches to flatter ones because he thinks there are more scoring opportunities. He hopes to see seam-friendly conditions in the Ashes.
With Australia’s Test surfaces over the last four summers trending significantly in favour of seam bowlers in comparison to previous decades, the pitches that will be used in the Ashes are a key topic of discussion.
In the 2021–22 Ashes, Head won the player of the series after hitting incredible hundreds on difficult surfaces in Hobart and Brisbane. He hopes that this summer will bring more of the same.
Head told ESPNcricinfo, “I probably like batting on those sort of wickets.”
“I believe that as a stroke player who wants to get on with it, the flatter wickets, the grind, and the technique that is more difficult to master over longer periods of time [trying] to eke out runs have never come as naturally to me. And that’s probably not something that the slower, flat wickets do. But you might get away with a few things if you nip fast-paced throws.
Furthermore, it goes without saying that my preferred style of play is to score whenever they give you the chance. When they are younger, they pitch up a bit more and a bit fuller, and with my style, I can maybe score and become busy if they miss a bit.
“The game is based on runs. When you blink, you’ll notice that some of the greatest players, like Steve Smith and Joe Root, are in their 30s or 40s. Additionally, you are aware that you might have a wicket with your name on it, which is something I have always valued. You are still capable of playing well. You can still get runs. You have to approach it differently at times. But in the end, you go try to score as many as you can in this game.
The top seven batsmen have combined for 24 hundreds in 20 Test matches since the 2021–22 Ashes began, averaging just 30.22 per dismissal in Australian Test matches. From the beginning of the 2017–18 Ashes to the conclusion of the 2020–21 Border-Gavaskar series, the top seven batters averaged 38.14 over 20 Test matches, scoring 34 hundreds in the four summers prior.
With hitters averaging 30.90 in Test matches in England between 2018 and 2021 and 38.94 since the Bazball era started in 2022, Test pitches in England have, on the other hand, trended the opposite way during the same four-year periods.
Although run-scoring in Australia has been declining, Head has flourished, averaging 54.64 at home and hitting six hundreds at 88.90. In Australia over the same time frame, no other player has averaged more than 45.29.
In recent years, other Australian batters have been neutralized at home while Head has flourished. During his first ten years of career, Steven Smith averaged 63.20 in Australia; he has since averaged 45.26 over the last four home summers with four hundreds.
He thinks if Australia’s pitches stay hot for the forthcoming Ashes, England’s hitters will have a difficult time.
“England play pretty well on the flatter wickets, the way they play,” remarked Smith. “So, if there’s a bit in it like there has been the last three or four years, with our bowling attack, it certainly makes things a lot more difficult for their batters.”
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